Portal:Current events/2005 February 28

February 28, 2005 (Monday)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released by the U.S. State Department (U.S. State Department).
Steve Fossett prepares to set off on his attempt to be the first person to circumnavigate the globe, without refuelling, in a jet-powered plane – the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. (BBC)
At the Old Bailey, Briton Saajid Badat pleads guilty to planning a suicide attack on a US bound aircraft. Badat subsequently withdrew from the conspiracy, leaving fellow "shoe bomber" Richard Reid to act alone. (AFP) (BBC)
Following week-long public protests (in the wake of Rafik Hariri's assassination) and a no confidence vote, the entire government of Lebanon resigns. MSNBC (CNN)
Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
- Israeli security forces intercept a car bomb in the Araba village near Jenin. The 200 kg explosive device, believed to have been the work of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, is later defused by IDF sappers. 1, (Haaretz), 2, (Haaretz)
- The death toll from Tel Aviv suicide bombing rises to 5 as a woman dies of her injuries. Israel declares that no Islamic Jihad members will be included in the list of 400 Palestinian prisoners that Israel plans to release in the coming months, and that Islamic Jihad's representative will be banned from traveling to Cairo on Tuesday for Cease-Fire Talks. (Haaretz)
A suicide car bomb explodes in the Iraqi town of Hilla, 60 kilometres south of Baghdad. 125 people are killed and many injured.(The Guardian)(BBC)
UK aid agency Oxfam states that atrocities still continue in Darfur (Reuters AlertNet (BBC)
People of Burundi vote on a new constitution (News24) (BBC)
In Spain, police arrest Raffaele Amato, head of a mafia gang that has waged turf wars against other gangs in Naples, Italy. (CNN) (BBC)
Cannes police, investigating the November 2004 disappearance of Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley-Cooper, arrest his estranged wife Djamilia M'Barek. Her brother, Mohammed, is arrested in Munich. (New Criminologist) (BBC)
In Haiti, police shoots at demonstrators who march in support of the former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Two deaths and several injuries are reported. Aristide left the country February 29 2004 (Reuters) (CBC) (LATimes) (BBC)
In Ukraine, Razom nas bahato, a song that was written in support of the Orange Revolution that led Viktor Yushchenko to presidency, is selected as the country's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest. Band Greenjolly will present it. (Forum, Ukraine) (Doteurovision) (BBC)
Ukraine's government also trims the retirement benefits of the ex-president Leonid Kuchma (Forum) (BBC)
Police in Ukraine states that they have identified people who kidnapped and killed journalist Georgiy Gongadze in September 2000 (Forum) (BBC)
In Botswana, high court allows Australian professor Kenneth Good to remain in the country when he appeals against deportation. President Festus Mogae declared him an illegal immigrant when he criticized the government in a lecture (Reuters) (SABC) (BBC)
In Côte d'Ivoire there are new clashes between rebels and government forces. United Nations peacekeepers try to intervene. Rebels state the that peace effort is now finished (Reuters SA) (Reuters) Archived 2005-03-08 at the Wayback Machine (SABC) (BBC)
Bosnian Muslim general Rasim Delic gives himself up for the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, as he had promised earlier (FENA) (Reuters)
Two leaders of separatist group the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), spokesman Ruby Bhuyan and demolitions specialist Khagen Kachari, surrender to Indian police (Rediff) (NDTV)
In Israel the Israel Defense Forces reports that those who tell recruiters that they play role-playing games are automatically given low security clearance and are sent directly to a professional for an evaluation, usually a psychologist. (Ynetnews)